Orange launches Intel powered smartphone

BARCELONA— Global mobile carrier Orange has announced it will be putting out its own branded Intel Atom-powered cell phone, dubbed the Santa Clara.

The phone, based on Intel’s Atom Z240 Medfield platform, has a clock speed of 1.6Ghz and runs Google’s Android operating system, which has been specially optimized. The phone will ship with Android Gingerbread at launch, with an upgrade to Ice cream Sandwich soon thereafter.

In addition to a 1024×600 4-inch screen, the device also sports an 8-megapixel camera capable of 10 photos per second and 1080p video capture. It also has an HDMI output which works via an MHL port and mobile wallet functionality thanks to embedded near field communications (NFC).

The phone weighs just 117 grams and measures 123 millimeters by 63 millimters, with a thickness of just 9.99 millimeters. That’s lighter than Apple’s iPhone 4S, which weighs 140 grams and measures 115.2 millimeters by 58.6 millimeters with a thickness of 9.3 millimeters.

Orange said users could also expect HSPA network speeds of 21.1Mbps down and 5.6Mbps up. The phone also supports HSPA+ connectivity and includes all the bells and whistles consumers have come to expect in terms of connectivity, from Wi-Fi to GPS and Bluetooth.

"Intel has a long standing collaboration with Orange and we’re excited to be working with them to bring a Intel-based smartphone to large markets in Europe," said an Intel spokeswoman.

"Intel’s smartphone reference device served as the foundation for the new phone and is enabling companies to innovate around the Intel design and create differentiated offerings with faster time-to-market," she added.

Orange said the phone would be "affordable" and available in Europe this summer.

Seems like they just slapped their label on Intel's Reference design. Nice strategy by Intel. If phone vendors arent interested in using Intel chip, just let carrier launch their own brand with the a Ref. design.

These design wins are just a ticket for Intel to enter. The Intel smartphone brands will not be well known. A mis-step in the carrier package plan could nip it in the bud.
Intel like to control these things which are not in their control.
So it won't be long before Intel will seek to govern the carriers, perhaps eventually acquiring them. In this way they would defy the history of AT&T breakup.

This is a major milestone for Intel processor to be in the mobile device market. Congratulation, Intel!
Intel based would make the phone be easily converted to Windows based or Linux. Getting the peripheral working may be a challenge. Let's see how soon the phone is hacked.
Like everybody else, I am very interested in learning the operational time in 1 full charge of battery.